AUBURN — Oxford Hills seized momentum in the second quarter and carried it to a 22-5 victory over Edward Little in a girls lacrosse season opener Thursday.

The Vikings finish the game on a 15-0 that started in the second quarter.

“Even though it was our first game, we bonded really well,” Hart said. “Even the freshmen fit in really well. We moved that ball up and down the field really easily, and our defense was very strong — along with our shots, we didn’t miss too many. They were very smart shots.”

Seven Oxford Hills players scored, paced by McKinley Soehren and Gracie Hart, who netted six goals apiece.

Edward Little coach Shaun McKinnon said the Red Eddies did well for only playing one scrimmage in the preseason.

“Oxford Hills is an excellent team, they are well-coached and they have a great program,” McKinnon said. “But I was so proud of how well the girls came ready to play in the first quarter. Even being in the game 7-5, we had it. The girls played great, and kudos to them, our captains, our team leaders who did a great job getting everyone ready in the preseason.”

The Vikings jumped out to a 2-0 lead when a Saige Winslow shot barely crossed the goal line and Mallory Kennaugh added another goal within the first two minutes of the first quarter.

Edward Little evened the game at 2-2 with goals from Madison MacFawn and Stella Smith.

Soehren found a grove for the remainder of the first quarter and led Oxford Hills on a 5-2 run with three of the goals, while Hart scored the other two.

“We started really quick with an assist from Saige Winslow, and we just kept it going from there,” Soehren said. “Whenever we score, we like to huddle and talk about what we can work on. Our (midfielders) did amazing on the draws, and our goalie, she’s brand new, she killed it.”

Izzy Hayes and Kaelyn Langlois netted Edward Little’s goals in the Vikings’ 5-2 run.

Hayes added another goal to cut the deficit to 7-5 early in the second.

“Izzy Hayes is one of our team captains; she’s an excellent goal scorer, an excellent team leader,” McKinnon said. “Madison MacFawn is new to us this year and got us on the board early. Stella Smith had one. And they really put in the work in the offseason. They are our strong goal scorers. Credit to Oxford Hills, they recognized that and were able to shut us down the rest of the way.”

The Vikings scored the final seven goals of the half. Winslow started the onslaught, followed by two goals from Soehren and another two from Hart before Kennaugh and Hart capped the second-quarter scoring to establish a 14-5 advantage for Oxford Hills.

“We just kept the momentum up, and we like to play to our level,” Soehren said.

The Vikings kept pouring it on after halftime.

Winslow had a goal and an assist in the third period, while Abigail Marcotte scored twice and Soehren and Kennaugh each added one goal as Oxford Hills’ run grew to 12-0 and it’s lead to 19-5 after three quarters.

“I mean, we had a ton today — McKinley Soehren always is great down low on attack,” Vikings coach Jenna Durgin said. “Saige, I think Saige Winslow just carries the field on in any direction. She’s great. Mallory Kennagh is a sophomore, so this is kind of like her breakout season.

“She had a couple of really beautiful goals. So it’s nice that we can just share the love and we have a lot of different people score.”

Bayleigh Young, Lydia Goyette and Hart scored in the fourth for the Vikings.

“We figured it was our first game and it was going to be a good one for us, and could show us our growth on how well we are going to do this season,” Hart said.

Sun Journal staff reporter Haley Jones contributed to this story.

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